Svoboda anticipates a smooth transition

Jim Svoboda expects to maintain continuity as he moves from UCLA’s quarterbacks coach to offensive coordinator. KEVIN SULLIVAN, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

LOS ANGELES - UCLA racked up more than 500 yards total offense in three of its football games last season, and scored more than 40 points in eight games.

And after just about each one of those games, the Bruins could not get past the feeling that there was more to be had.

With spring practices starting today at Spaulding Field, the Bruins are confident they can get at it with new offensive coordinator Jim Svoboda taking over for Tom Cable, who left to become the line coach of the Atlanta Falcons.

The Bruins are without their starting quarterback (Drew Olson), leading rusher (Maurice Drew) and leading receiver (Marcedes Lewis) from last season, in addition to Cable, who in two seasons transformed the Bruins' West Coast offense from the dysfunctional mess he inherited into a unit that last season was one of the more dynamic offenses in the country.

But the continuity gained when Coach Karl Dorrell promoted Svoboda, the Bruins' quarterbacks coach the past two seasons, is immeasurable.

"Huge," is the way it was stated by Olson, who last season had one of the best seasons by a college quarterback, throwing for 3,198 yards and 34 touchdowns with only six interceptions and an efficiency rating of 161.6.

"He brings continuity and experience," Dorrell said of Svoboda. "He's been here two years and has developed our quarterbacks. He's been at a central point in our offense, with him understanding the intricacies of what we do. He's just grown in what we do and he's a great fit for us."

And while the Bruins no longer have three key ingredients from last season's offensive juggernaut, they do have a number of players who have been in the Bruins' West Coast offense the past two seasons. And the players are better positioned to move forward, allowing Svoboda to tweak formations, motions and shifts and challenge defenses.

"I feel like that's what you have to do," he said. "The critical element for the defense really is recognition, then they can go run and hit. And if you can delay that process, if you can delay that just a little bit, then you gain somewhat of an advantage, whether that's by a shift or a motion or giving them one look where you have had a tendency to run and throwing the ball out of that look."

Svoboda and the Bruins will look at all of those things while working in quarterback Ben Olson and trying to find new playmakers to replace Drew and Lewis.

"A big part of it is your preparation," he said. "With our offense, we're always concerned about tendencies and maintaining that element of being unpredictable. It's easy to think, 'Ah, I'm not sure.' But you have to push through that and call it because that's how you've worked on it. Otherwise, you will get predictable. ... And I think that's probably the worst thing that can happen to an offense - you lose that predictability."

Svoboda will respectfully disagree with the thought that the Bruins became predictable at times last season, but that should be the least of the Bruins' concerns.

"Just by the way that he coached in meeting, you can tell he loves to call plays, has a knack for it. I think you'll see a different kind if playcalling from him. I think he has his own style," Drew Olson said. "I'm sure he'll take his shots. He doesn't seem like a guy who is scared to throw the ball downfield at times. He'll mix and match and use the running game and the passing game. I think he's very smart about how he calls his plays, everything is very thought out.

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